Actor John Dumelo has said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Hohoe Constituency, his hometown in the Volta Region, wants him to run for the MP slot – although he would not say if he has decided to do so and when.

Mr Dumelo recently pulled out of the NDC’s Ayawaso West Wuogon contest for “personal reasons”.

A few days later, Mr Dumelo’s opposite number in the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Rev. Edward Agyekum Kufuor, also an actor, withdrew from the race to represent his party in the 31 January 2019 by-election, which became necessary following the death of MP Emmanuel Kyeremanteng Agyarko in November this year.

Mr Dumelo told Class91.3FM’s Ibrahim Obeng-Mensah in an exclusive interview that: “It wasn’t because of Kufuor’s son that I stepped down, I mean that’s far from it”, adding: “JM [John Mahama] and [President] Nana Addo are friends but Nana Addo won’t step down for JM, [and] JM won’t step down for Nana Addo. We’re all friends but it’s a battle, it’s a democracy, so that is why we will enter into it”.

“It was just on personal grounds”, he stressed.

“I mean if it was Kufuor’s son or anybody else who was standing up against me, I don’t think they would have won. I think I would have won it hands down, [but] God’s time is the best.

“It’s God’s time; you don’t rush into certain things. There are certain times that you know that it is right, there are certain times that you know that: ‘Chale, this is not your time, it’s not right yet’.

“After all, I come from Hohoe, and Hohoe is my home and I’ve been going there for the past three or four years and they, as well, want me to come and stand there”, he revealed.

Asked if the NDC stood a chance of winning the Wuogon by-election, Mr Dumelo said: “If we work hard, we’ll be able to capture the seat, but you know how it is; I mean the NPP are in power at this point, and they will obviously bring all their machinery down to be able to win the seat. Same as the NDC but just that we are in opposition and there’s always this incumbency thing that always plays … especially for by-elections, so, let’s just hope that the NDC wins this by-election”.